Domino’s has high-tech solution for common pizza woes

According to pizza patriarch Domino’s, there are two really common complaints that customers have about their favourite fast food – and they both focus on toppings. The company said that people particularly dislike it when there is either not enough of a topping on a pizza, or that topping is all lumped in one small part of the pizza. These might sound like minor gripes – but if you’re a pizza delivery company, they’re probably gripes you take very seriously. Now, Domino’s has a new way to tackle these terrible topping troubles.

Domino’s – no stranger to high tech fast-food solutions – has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure that there is the right amount of each topping on your pizza, and that it is evenly spread out. The system will also check that it’s hot enough and that it “looks exactly how it’s supposed to look.” For now, Domino’s is confining this pizza-perfectionist AI to a single store, road-testing the technology before a more widespread 2018 rollout.

The AI is being developed by Dragontail Systems, with whom the company has signed a 12-month exclusive contract. Domino’s CEO, Don Meij, describes it as a “virtual trainer”, and says: “It will dramatically improve the quality and consistency of handmade pizzas — cooked and cut to perfection.”

Speaking about the business relationship with Dragontail. Mr Meij explained: “Dragontail is the pioneer but it has been a joint collaboration. The other partner in this is Google AI software which allows companies like Dragontail and Domino’s to develop products more cost effectively rather than having a machine learning from scratch.”

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